162 chapterS PHP for ServerSide Programming 5.4 Advanced PHP Syntax In these sections we'll see more advanced PHP syntax for elements such as functions, arrays, and files. ‘These will alow us to create larger, well-structured programs that interact with interesting data 5.4.1 Functions Like functions and methods in C, C+, and Java, a PHP function is a named group of statements that can be executed many times. PHP functions can accept parameters, which are declared by wait ing theie names with dollar signs in front; no types are declared, Example 5.33 shows the syntax, PHP functions can also return values. To return a value from a function, place a return state ment in the function's body, using the syntax shown in Example 5.34. For example, the function shown in Example 5.35 computes the slope of a line based on two points (x, 91), (2,72) function name($parameterName, ..., $parameterName) { statements; i Example 5.33 Syntax template for function declaration return value; Example 5.34 Syntax template for return statement function slope($x1, $y1, $x2, $y2) { return ($y2 - $y1) / ($x2 = $x1); M Example 5.35 Function declaration ‘As we've already seen eaulier in this chapter, functions are called by writing the function's name, and the actual parameter values between patentheses separated by commas. For example, to call the quadratic function we just declared, you could write the code shown in Example 5.36 $vari = -2; $var2 = $root 35 quadratic(1, $vari, $var2 - 2); # $root stores 1 Example 5.36 Function call You can specify default parameter values to make a function's parameter optional. The syntax for doing so is to declare the parameter with an equals sign followed by the default value to use sf none is, passed. Any parameters with default values must appear at the end of the list of parameters, ‘The gen- eral syntax is shown in Example 5.37, and a function utilizing the syntax is shown in Example 5.38. ‘The print_separated function uses a comma and space as the default separator string when prin ing its output if the caller passes only one parameter. function name statements; i $parameterName = value, $parameterName = value) { Example 5.37 Syntax template for default parameter values5.4 Advanced PHP Syntax 163 function print_separated($str, $separator = “, if (strlen($str) >) { print $str[@]; for ($i = 1; $i < strlen($str); $i++) { print $sep . $str[$i]; + + } yf Example 5.38 Function with default parameter value You can call the print_separated function two ways: passing one parameter for a string, in and spaces; of passing a second parameter he string's characters. Example 5.39 demonstrates both kinds of calls. which case its letters will be printed separated by comm: for the text to place between # print_separated( “hello” print_separated( "hello" #h,e, 1, 1,0 3 # hee-L-1-0 Example 5.39 Function calls using defautt parameter values Value vs. Reference Parameters Normally parameters are passed by value in PHP, meaning that the actual parameter values passed are copied into the function's formal parameters during each call. The impact of this is that a function cannot change the values of any variables that are passed in to it. Notice that the code in the function in Example 5.40 is not able to modify the value of $x from the main program; $num!s value is just a copy of $x's value. They are not linked to each other, so $x is still 5 after the call function make_bigger($num) { $num = $num * 2; y $x = 55 make_bigger($x); print $x #5 Example 5.40 Value parameter Parameters can also be passed by reference, which causes the function's parameter to be an alias or link to the original parameter passed from the main program. This means that if the function changes its parameter value, the caller will also see the change in its own parameter. A reference parameter is specified by placing a & before the $ in front of its name. In Example 5.41, parameter $num is a refer ence, meaning that when it is doubled, $x passed from the main program also doubles. function make_bigger(&$num) { $num = $num * 2; } $x = 5; make_bigger($x)5 print $x; #10 Example 5.41 Reference parameter164 chapterS PHP for ServerSide Programming Reference parameters can be very useful in some situations, However, overusing them can lead to abuse of them and can make code more confusing, so we encourage you to limit them to where they are truly useful. For example, in the preceding examples, returning the doubled value would have worked just as well and would have been easier to understand than using a reference parameter. Scope Every variable has a spe, or a range of the program where it is accessible. Variables declared out side of any function have global scope and can be seen throughout the program. Variables defined in side a function have /ocal sape and exist only in that function. Unlike in other languages such as Java, PHP has no narrower scope than function level. For example, if you declare a variable inside an if statement of loop, the variable is destroyed not when th This can sometimes lead to bugs where variables are still alive that you assume would have disap peared. Example 5.42 shows a brief example of two variables whose values live on to be printed at the end of a function. loop ends but when the function retums. function scope_example() { for ( $i < 10; Sits) { g nt "Hello\n"; } # $i and $x are still alive here Example 5.42 Function-level scope of variables To avoid name collisions between local and global variables, PHP requires functions to explicitly declare when they want to access global variables. Otherwise any time a function's code refers to a variable, even one that has not yet been declared, PHP treats the variable as local. To access a global variable within a function, use a global declaration statement at the top of the function's body, using the syntax shown in Example 5.43. global $variableName; Example 5.43 Syntax template for global variable access In Example 5.44, the code accesses and modifies the value of a global variable named $show. Without the global declaration, $show would not be visible inside the downgrade function. $show = "Star Trek"; # global " Voyager" ; # local $show $sutfix"; print “$show\n"; Example 5.44 Global variable Referring to globals should not be used as a substitute for proper parameter passing, Normally -ontain important values meant to be considered constants to be used throughout your code. glob:5.4 Advanced PHP Syntax 165 Also note that variable scope is completely unrelated to the start and end of PHP blocks, so a variable declared in an earlier PHP block is also visible in later PHP blocks in the same page, as shown in Example 5.45. In that example, the variable $firstname is declared in the first PHP block, and then it is used successfully in a later block,

Hello, world!

Your full name is

Halo, world! ‘You fillnzane is Victoria Kiss, Example 5.45 Scope across PHP blocks 5.4.2 Including Files PHP has a function named include that you can use to inject a file's contents into your page. IF the injected file's contents are HTML code, the HTML is displayed on your page. If its contents are PHP code, the code will be executed, and any variables or functions it declares will now be available to any of your subsequent code. The following is the syntax for the include function: include(“filename"); Example 5.46 Syntax template for include statement ‘You can include as a powerful way to climinate redundancy at the file level you may have several pages that (Or you may have written useful utility functions and code that you'd like to call in several pages. In either case, you can place the common content into a separate file and have each page include it Suppose you have two pieces of important HTML and PHP code whose content you want to in clude in several pages on your overall web site. The first reused piece of code is a quote from a poem, and a function called pigLatin that you want to call in several pages. You can put this partial web content into a file such as partial php shown in Example 5. 1c example,

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree

« $word[@] . “ay Example 5.47 Partial web page, partial1.php